When performing a therapeutic exchange procedure, blood is withdrawn from a patient, a portion comprising abnormal, pathogenic components is separated and retained, and the remaining components are transfused to the patient along with a replacement fluid. For example, in a therapeutic plasma exchange procedure (used for treating immune-mediated diseases, neoplasia, infectious diseases, sepsis, etc.), the replacement fluid may be saline or a solution containing albumin or fresh frozen plasma. In a therapeutic red blood cell exchange (used for treating sickle cell disease), the replacement fluid includes red blood cells originating from a healthy donor. In any event, it is important that the correct replacement fluid for the exchange procedure being performed be infused into the patient.
In performing a therapeutic exchange procedure, a single-use kit is used in connection with a hardware component including a durable separation device and programmable controller to separate the patient's blood. In current practices, the operator connects one or more containers of replacement fluid to the single-use kit as part of loading the kit onto the hardware component and relies solely on the operator's experience and training to ensure that the correct replacement fluid for the desired therapeutic exchange procedure is selected. Because of the potential for significant adverse consequences in the event that an incorrect replacement fluid is loaded onto the system, it is desirable that the system automatically detect the type of replacement fluid loaded by the operator and provide a warning in the event an incorrect replacement fluid was connected.